We've ordered vinyl banners 8 feet high and two feet wide of each of our 7 Irish saints in the new stained glass windows at Holy Cross for bearers to carry in the St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 8th in Rumson. There will also be a long rectangular banner carried in front of our seven saints to help identify our contingent and the icons.

We need some Irish spirit to help carry them and to form a group to march with Holy Cross.

Please call the parish offices to volunteer for the parade.

Our window saints are: St. Patrick, St. Brigid, St. Columcille, St. Kieran, St. Ita, St. Laurence O'Toole, St. Laserian

The school will be on a delayed opening on Wednesday, so be careful of the traffic in the parking lot, but we will hold mass at the usual time tomorrow morning followed by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament until 4 PM.

Well, it's not as bad as predicted and "historic" may have been a bit hyped, but the roads aren't terrific and our parking lot won't be passable and safe for many hours. Even though regional governors have lifted public travel bans, it's best I think for those who don't need to travel to stay home and safe.

Inside work continued on Monday with some progress being made on attaching the pendentives to finish the dome.

Apparently there is a bit of cutting and pasting, especially as four of the sprinkler heads come directly down and out of the dome!?!? Michelangelo might have had difficulty with Pope Julius, but not with a sprinkler system. Just imagine if there were several sprinkler heads poking their way out of the Sistine chapel ceiling at inappropriate places.

Our school students were just saying that they hadn't gotten any snow days yet this year! The school principal, bus companies and other schools will determine what happens with our school on Monday and going forward.

Keep posted here for news of parish masses and parish events in the next 48 hours, depending on what happens with the weather. We have already told those who are coming from a distance to work from home. As of now, we plan to have morning mass at 8 AM, but if the weather is bad, stay home!

Our intrepid pilgrims left early this morning for the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. The weather forecast didn't look too bad, so pray that our young people gain a new enthusiasm for their Catholic faith and renewed commitment to protecting life by their association with so many like minded young people from all over the country.

The shingling on the fleche was recently completed. It will be topped with a decorative lightning rod, and the louvres will be painted.

Besides serving as an architectural accent point over the main entrance and the location of the baptismal font, the spire also serves a functional use as a ventilation tower for the roof and attic.

Water service pipes laid. A six inch sprinkler supply line, two inch residential water line, a conduit for potential expansion of telecommunications equipment and a drainage line underneath the sanitary storm drainpipes.

Our new digital organ is but one of the many steps we have taken to strengthen our music program at Holy Cross Church...all for the purpose of singing a joyful song to the Lord at our weekly masses and other liturgies.

The patient, skillful direction of our music director, Don Carolina, has begun to bear fruit by invigorating our adult choir and attracting a chorus of enthusiastic and youthful voices for our children’s choir.

The purchase of Worship hymnals will not only strengthen our musical repertoire, but the permanent binding of the new volume will both save money on paperback missalettes and indicate the importance of the hymnal at mass.

The new digital organ and sound system will be trouble-free, flexible and come equipped with recording and playback capability and a digital camera to monitor the gathering space during bridal processions and other liturgies.

We have retained the pipes from our old church organ, which will be incorporated into the voice of our new organ if finances permit.

Please help us reach our goal by subscribing to one or more hymnals and pledging a donation of any amount for the church organ.

Our venerable steeple has stood test of time and storms and pigeons. The louvres, however, are a bit too far gone to be scaped and re-painted, so they will be replaced. In addition, the small triangular bits of decorative moulding will need rebuilding.

Some of the Respect Life posters drawn by our children are displayed in the gym during masses this week and next. Parishioners will bus to Washington DC on Thursday to particiapte in the Annual March for Life.

More progress was made on completing the exterior shingling; workers are reaching the steeple getting to the western facade of the building (which few have been observing).

More ceiling vaults were delivered and arranged for installing today. The pendentives are still being manufactured and are scheduled to be delivered next week. These last few pieces of ceiling are to hang over the sanctuary.

Electrical work continues throughout the building and the accessory lighting system in the basement has been wired. The elevator is substantially complete.

We're still waiting on the water company to begin excavation and installation of the water mains to the building.

This Lent our Adult Faith Enrichment program will focus on prayer and art. We will be using a newly published book Art and Prayer by Msgr. Timothy Verdon. The book is lavishly illustrated with color photographs of the works of art discussed in the text. We will order only as many books as we need, so please make a reservation with the Parish Office or obtain your own copy. The requested donation if the parish orders your book is $ 25.